On a happier note...

[fleetfootmike]

...those tracking the progress of the new server at the Mill House will be pleased to know that I have just placed an order for:

1 x Scan CF-219 2u Aluminium Rackmount Case inc 300W PFC PSU
1 x Abit VA-10 KM400, uATX, 10/100 Lan, USB 2.0, 6Ch Audio, IDE, VGA
1 x AMD *OEM* Athlon XP 2100+ (1.73 GHz) "Thoroughbred" OEM
2 x 120Gb Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 9 ATA-133 (7200rpm,2MB)
1 x Coolermaster CP5-5C13 (1U) Ultra Low Profile ** AMD **
2 x 60cm Akasa Round IDE Cable
1 x 512 Mb Corsair Value Select, DDR, PC2700, non ECC, Lifetime Warranty

which will go with the spare 20G hard drive and CD-ROM I have here to make a very tasty server indeed.

Comments

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

That's more-or-less the same as my desktop system -- different case, much smaller HDD, a lot of detail differences, but you'd heave to be really picky about the detail.

Which OS are you planning on using?

[fleetfootmike.livejournal.com]

Why, Debian testing release, of course :)

2Mb cache?

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

I always pay the few extra quid and get the 8Mb cache drives ... don't know why, I doubt that much I do is actually affected by the extra cache, but it makes me feel better!

I just bought at 200Gb Maxtor (same spec as yours but with the 8Mb cache) which my local shop sells for 78 quid including vat. The 120s they sell at £49 (2Mb) or £55 (8Mb).

The rest sounds pretty wonderful to me!

I know it is going to sound pretty strange, but while trying to find a spare video card today, I discovered I had a spare Athlon 1800 machine (entire machine, including hard drive and CD rom, but no real OS) sitting on my landing that I had entirely forgotten I owned! Sheesh ... and I was looking for the video card as I'd just bought another Athlon machine (pre-owned) for 150 quid (no hard drive, one old CD writer, no OS, but 1Gig of RDRAM and onboard sound, network etc. on an Intel D850MV motherboard in a nice case with an extra fan taking up one of the rear slots) ... the plan is that one machine is going to be my Cubase machine and one is probably going to be the Linux machine (and I *will* be picking your brains about how to set up a mailserver like the one you showed me the last time I visited!)

Re: 2Mb cache? - ABORT ABORT ABORT

[gas-king.livejournal.com]

>2 x 120Gb Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 9 ATA-133 (7200rpm,2MB)
>I always pay the few extra quid and get the 8Mb cache drives ... don't know >why, I doubt that much I do is actually affected by the extra cache, but it >makes me feel better!

I would normally agree - except recent, personal experience has shown these drives have a high failure rate. Do a google and you'll see this is backed up by several people.

I have been advised to get Samsung SpinPoint drives as they are low heat output and quiet.